South Sudan and FOA launch construction of honey facility in Wulu County

RUMBEK – Local authorities in Lakes State and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the construction of a honey facility center in Nukta-Manga, Domuloto Payam, in Wulu County.

Isaac Luka Manga, the state minister of cooperative and rural development in Lakes State, appreciated the community of Domuloto Payam for offering land for the value collection of honey in the payam.

He said they had come there with honorable Agai and two directors general from the ministry of animal resource fisheries and tourism, cooperative and rural development, and partners.

He said they had officially launched and broken ground for the construction, and the engineers would definitely kick off with construction tomorrow or the next day. He added that the construction would be a multipurpose project requiring a large number of community members.

“We really appreciate and encourage the community to have a lot of beehives, particularly, we are going to start with 500 beehives. This is a very strategic place because we chose Domuloto Payam because Domuloto has a border with Mvolo, Makundy, and Domuloto has a border with Bargel and Rumbek as well,” he said.

“This is why we are here today to officially launch the project. The initiative was initiated here under our leadership to choose this place because we are really to fight economically to empower the civil population to fight poverty in the area,” he said.

Hannington Sebaduka, the UNFAO head of field office in Rumbek, said they had had an opportunity to break ground for the establishment, set up, and construction of a value collection center for honey in Domuloto Payam.

He said the Domuloto Payam bulk collection center was the facility funded by FAO, and they were looking at least a capacity of around 15 tons of honey in a season to be earned by this facility.

“It is a facility; we are looking at least a minimum to mobilize 500 beekeepers from Domuloto, Bargel, Wulu, and even the northern part of Western Equatoria, but the key players and key beneficiaries are going to be the people of Domuloto who should at least be able to serve 70% of this facility,” he said.

Sebaduka said this facility was a result of FAO working in Wulu County in the shea butter sector for some time, where they started with safer and after the end of safer, now they ended up in Domuloto and now started in Domuloto and spread out to the rest of Wulu and the rest of Lakes State and hopefully Sudan.

“We want to make sure that this center shines. It is a center that will be set up under the Domuloto honey cooperative society, and we hope and look forward to looking at partnerships with the private sector. The ownership and the land have been provided by one of the community members, and it is half a fedan,” he said.

“We are going to have this facility together with a solar-driven multipurpose well to run this processing center to be a center that can facilitate processing as well as marketing. So, we are very thankful for the people of Lakes State, the government, the commissioner, the minister of cooperative and minister of livestock and the minister of agriculture and forestry for having supported getting this land,” he said.

He added that the construction would take time and by the end of the year it should have ended. His hope was that by the end of the year (2024), they should have concluded it and discussed the issue of partnership.

He mentioned that the ownership would remain with the beekeepers, but the management would like to see a difference whereby they bring in a private sector and do a partnership with the cooperative to be a full attractive model whereby facilities are there, and production is there from beekeepers so that the private sector can be attracted by this and it is a private sector who knows the market very better.

“The private sector is the one able to build the brand down the value change of honey together with beekeepers,” he said.

Mrs. Elizabeth Momu Agum said that the honey factory is already with them here in Wulu County. She said this honey manufacturing factory came and trained them well.

“It supports us, and honey is something very good, and when there is honey produced, then people will come to buy it from us,” she said. “Now, the work for producing honey has started, and we thank people from FAO because these people have worked with us so much and they used to bring very good things for us, and we are very happy in our hearts.”

John Angek Bilal, a youth representative from Domuloto Payam, said he is a farmer.

“We used to be working as a group in beehives. We are happy for the program that has been brought to Domuloto Payam by FAO. It is the first thing to arrive in the community here in Domuloto since Wulu became a county. It is a first manufacturing company to come in the payam,” he said.

He said they are happy to make this industry strong.

“Let me say not for Wulu alone but let me say Lakes State in general. So, we are happy for the program, and we joined together with those people of FAO so that we work together as a beehives so that we join hand to be strong in Wulu County. So, I am happy, and I really thank those people of FAO for the program that they brought to the community, and they are free to work here with anything that they can fear in the community,” he said.

Moses Bilal Kulang, deputy paramount chief of Domuloto Payam, said that it is him who offered a piece of land to this honey factory so that they can be able to open it here in Wulu County. He said even someone in Nairobi, Kenya, Khartoum, or Juba and Wau can come and buy honey produced here in Domuloto Payam of Wulu County.

“We are very thankful to FAO for giving us this important economic empowerment to our people, and this is the only thing that the government of Lakes State has given us,” he said.

He said if there is someone who needs honey, he can come to Nubta-manga or Domuloto Payam.